The idea for this fic has been in my mind for some time but I never really did anything with it. I am a HUGE Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider, and let's not forget Uncharted fan! So I figured why not write a Riren fic revolving some weird ass treasure hunt or something of the sort. Besides I like learning stuff about the world, and I adore myths and treasures! Most things about the treasure's or places mentioned are true, however I will play with some facts when I see fit, so don't flip when some things don't add up hahaha (As in several myths or legends could be combined or other stuff could be adjusted so it makes more sense, … or less)

Eren is around 24 and is slightly smaller than Levi, yes, the midget is not a super midget anymore and yes he's 34.

These are thoughts, so hope that's clear =)

This is my second fanfic, the first being; The Mad Titans and the World of Tomorrow =) for those who know me cheers! And I hope u'll like this one too hahaha~ for those who don't likewise.

Please review if you like it, then I know if it's worth writing, because all the research is quite a hassle hahaha not that I mind much… I like digging through the Internet hahaha

Short Summary;

In an Ancient world there was a myth about a ship, a treasure, and a hidden kingdom. Treasure hunter and risk taker, Eren Jeager finds himself in a tight spot when all hell breaks loose at the discovery of new leads to the key of an unforgettable treasure, one that can claim his life if he's not too careful. This is a Riren fic!

Note; I hope all these chapters will be just as long as this one!

The Antiquities Acquisition Business

Chapter 1

It was a hot day, scratch that it was a very hot day, and if Eren had to compare it with anything it reminded him of the scorching Sahara desert, which burnt you to a bloody crisp before you could say water. But he was not in said desert, no, right now he was getting of the plane on Sultan Ismail Petra Airport, an airport near Kota Bharu, Malaysia. The sun kissed the asphalt under Eren's torn black All Stars, so-called indistructable shoes. Now Eren knew that wasn't true, however on all of his travels, the best shoes for his adventures had always been these trustworthy pieces of shit. Life worked in misterious ways, so did these shoes. They'd stay in one piece during dangerous expiditions, during swimming, fights, and walking on off road, and off road meant; swamps or other crazy things what regular people regarded as life threatening situations. No, these shoes survived all that, but one time, Eren stood on one of his shoelaces while he walked and his whole thing tore appart. Damned shoes.

Well, he had better things to worry about at the moment. He walked towards one of the old terminals of the airport where he'd meet up with his childhood friend Armin Arlette, who'd asked him to come here as fast as he could. He sounded quite nervous over the phone, so he figured it was very important. It was either something good or… yeah, let's not go there. Eren sighed. He hoped his friend had not worked himself into trouble, at least not into trouble where there was noway out, those were the worst kinds.

He slung his rather small brown leather backpack over his shoulder nonchlantly and marched towards the old building. He occasionally looked behind him, watching carefully if no one followed him. Nothing. Good. He only heard his own footsteps on the hard contreet with the crushing sounds of sand and rocks squashed beneath the rubber sole. All of his butons on his off white henley shirt were undone and he had his sleeves rolled up in a sloppy fashion till just above his elbows. The bottom of his grey demin jeans were almost completely walked off, and showed severe signs of wearing near his knees. It looked old and worn, and it was, but it was the best damn jeans one could wear during long travels.

He checked the time on his leather watch he wore on his left wrist, he had to look twice as a large crack ran through the glass blocking a clear view. Apparently walls and watches did not go together so well, so did Eren and taking on four men in hand to hand combat. They were drunk and so was he, it was innevitable. Or so he explained it to Armin and to his sister Mikasa.

It was just passed 2pm, in less than an hour the hottest time of day would come to pass. Thank god. He adjusted the leather cuff underneath his watch a little. He wore it because the watch itself was slightly to big and he was too lazy go get it fixed. This worked just fine. He ran his hands through his messy mob of brown hair when he finally reached the large building. He scanned the walls for an entrance.

He dug into his jeans pocket with his hand and fished out a wrinkled piece of paper.

14:30 S.I.P Airport, old terminal

That's all it read. It was Armin handwriting, one of the reasons Eren could still read it. His own looked like a todler's stickfigure or many of them in a row. Aniway, it looked like brail.

'Still a tad early.' He shrugged. What a surpise, Eren Jeager was on time. He never was, it was one of his lousy traits. He laughed, clasped and rubbed his hands together when he spotted a door at his far right. He opened the door slowly, his eyes narrowed when the old wooden door cracked loudly at the sudden intrustion. 'Shitty door, shut up.' He mumbled to himself. He pushed it open faster to get it over with, luckily the creaking sound subdued. He closed the door in a similar fashion.

The large terminal was far from empty old boxes, crates and furniture was stacked in the hallways. Eren looked at the door he'd just come through. An emergency exit sign hung above it, and a map of the terminal beside it.

He smirked 'Bingo.' He glanced at it briefly and released an annoyed sigh when the building showed to be rather complex. 'Great meeting place when you only mention the airport and the terminal Armin. Great job. Screw gate number or toilets thingies, no just mention the whole damned building, he'll figure it out.'

He ran over several options, and picked out the place that seemed most logical for a meeting point. 'Think strategic.' He huffed. 'Look for the one thing that's not on here.' His emerald eyes fell on one of the outer parts of the old buidling. 'Should be around here…' he was looking for the security centre, of course any logical map on plain sight would not show such a place to visitors. He guessed it was situated on the 3rd floor since there were about four, and when he was outside he had seen the three lower floors were all similar, however the map showed different. The map showed the 3rd floor had the same design as the 4th, it was slightly smaller in the left and he was certain it had to be there. Leave it to Armin to choose a place.

He made his way up the dark staircases with nothing more than his bashed up Iphone for some sort of light. He couldn't use the flashlight app since the flash was missing entirely. Eren wasn't good with expensive stuff, or stuff that could break easily. His Iphone screen was cracked on almost all sides and he'd even cut himself on it once, leaving a nasty gash in his thumb. But again, he was too lazy too get it fixed and too greedy to buy a new one. It would only break anyway. He was right. Mikasa and Armin agreed without a second thought.

On the 3rd floor the halls were empty and full of dust, making Eren wrinkle his nose. He squazed his eyes shut and covered his nose and mouth when he felt a sneeze rise up. The nasty feeling passed, leaving Eren with tears in his eyes. There was almost nothing worse than waiting for a sneeze that never found its way out. Except having to do a number two with the lack of toiletpaper, or of course driving something that looked like a scooter on so-called highway in India while being chased by pissed of people you'd just robbed. Now those were memories.

He had made it to the security centre, his eyes ghosted over the hall to see if there was any sign of life. When he failed to see anything of the sort he proceeded to the blue metal door. He grabbed the doorknob and turned it slowly, when hearing the soft click he push the door open without a sound. He peered inside, noticing it was rather dark. He stashed away his phone in his backpack, but not before putting it on silent -he mentally wanted to slap himself for only thinking of that now- and put the bag down next to the door. He tiptoed through the dark and unfamiliar space until he reached a second door in the back of the room. He heard soft whispers, the two sounded hurried, as if they were nearly out of time. One voice Eren recognised as Armin's though the other belonged to a young woman he'd never met. He knocked the door twice, with a long pauze inbetween. Something he'd discussed with Armin a long time ago.

'He's here.' He heard Armin whisper. Footsteps neared the door before it was opened. 'Hey, took you long enough.' A smile crept on his friends face. His blond hair was messy and his cheeks were smeared with some sort of dark dust.

'What? If anything I'm early. And you look like shit. Oh, and hai!' he greeted his friend with a short hug. 'It's good to see you.'

'You too.' came Armin's short relpy. He noticed Eren peaking at the young woman behind him. 'Ah, this is Dr Carolina, she's specialized in ancient meteorology.'

'Nice to meet you, I'm Mina Carolina.' The black haired woman greeted him, she extended her small hand, which Eren took in his and shook her hand while he nodded his head.

'Well hai, I'm Eren.'

'I've heard loads about you.' She nodded towards Armin, who smiled.

'Guilty as charged.' He raised his hands in his defence.

Eren shrugged as his friend's action. 'Don't get me wrong…' he directed his attention back towards Mina -Oh, Dr Carolina, excuse me- and continued 'So you're some kind of weather reporter of the times of old?' it came out more as a harmless question than a statement, but he could see her eyes twitch in annoyance. Woops. He was never really a star with words. What did I do wrong?

He shot Armin a I-probably-shouldn't-have-said-that look and Armin anwered with a No-you-shouldn't-have look and shook his head to make it even more clear. Gee thanks for the warning.

'I'm sorry?' Oh, here came the rain. Fuck my life. 'I study the scientific aspects of the atmosphere during-' Dear god, shut up. Was all that filled Eren's brain. He couldn't care less what she studied as long as she'd remain silent.

He heard Armin stiffle a chuckle, his friend had noticed him not listening to a word the poor woman said. He rolled his eyes at him and signed it would only be a few more seconds before she'd cooled off.

'Yeah so…' Eren interrupted her 'What brings me here?'

Before Mina –Dr Carolina, excuse me yet again- could raise her voice again to annoy the crap out of the brunnete, Armin saved the day, or at least the afternoon.

'You remember we once talked about Estevao da Gama?' Armin asked Eren with a glint of excitement in his bright blue eyes.

'Hm? The govenor of the Portugese Coast during the 1530's?' Eren remembered vaguely.

'1529 till, …15-something, till he dissapeared.' He corrected.

Eren rolled his eyes. Of course he was off one year. One freaking year! 'Yeah, I do, the one of the attack on the Ottoman fleet. He dissapeared when he went to India on July 9th, 1541, if I'm correct.' He peered at Armin who nodded.

'Very nice.' The blond said impressed. 'You actually listen to the things I say.'

Eren snorted at Armin's subtle joke. 'Well, if it's important.' He cocked his brow, a sligh smile tugged at his lips.

'You also remembered the name of his ship?' Armin went on.

'What's this, an exam?' it came out as a groan because, quite frankly, he'd forgotten. 'Something… I can't remember but I do know this ship disseapered in 1511.'

'Exactly. But I'm positive that if you hear the name, you'll never forget it again.'

'Okay. Surprise me.'

'I'll give you some hints. She went on the conquest of Goa, in 1510.' When Eren just narrowed his eyes with a I-still-don't-know-it look plastered on his face, Armin continued. '… and the conquest of Malacca in the year of her disseaperance.' He said suggestively.

At that last part it finally clicked. The conquest of Malacca. 'Oh, shit.' Was all that past Eren's lips. his mind was in chaos. 'So. It's true?'

Armin nodded. 'Yes.'

'Fuck.'

'Are you in?'

'You know something about the Flor de la Mar, dude I am in!' it was chirstmas all over again. Flor de la Mar, translated, the Flower of the Sea, was a large ship over 400 tons of massive wood. It had participated in over nine years of desicive events, from battles to raids, in the Indian Ocean till it supposingly sank in 1511. Though Armin and Eren dared to believe it dissapeared instead of sank, however the fact remained that it was gone and no one knew where its location. It was last seen at the coast of Sumatra when it was returning to Portugal with treasures of its conquest in Siam. However in the Strait of Malacca she was caught in a storm and was wrecked, condemned to the depths of the sea, or as some believed still very much above the water. Flor de la Mar is claimed to be the richest vessel ever lost at sea, with its hold loaded with over 200 coffers of precious stones, and diamonds from the small half-inch size to the size of a man's fist. She was something Eren couldn't wait to lay eyes upon.

When he thought about it he knew exactly why Armin had contacted a meteorologist and mentally slapped himself, though it didn't make him respect her more. He was a complicated person with lack of people skills. Let's just say he was very selective at being social. Jep, that was it.

He glanced at her and she smiled. 'You see.' She said. Oh, he hated her already. Cheeky girl. Let's just hope you're any good. Then you can say "you see" tsk, you see my ass. He furrowed his brow and pursed his lips.

'Okay, so what do you got? Wait, question first, why are we here, when she was last seen near the Strait of Malacca? That's the total opposite side of Malaysia.' he folded his arms over his chest and put his weight on one leg, ready for an explanation.

'That is because there is a replica of the ship.' Mina stated proudly.

'Yeah, so, it's in that… what's it called, Malacca … marine, museum thing.' Eren tried, waving his hands at the lost name.

'The Malacca's Sea Maritime Museum.' Armin corrected him.

'Yeah, that!' Eren raised his arms to prove his point.

'She's being cleaned and repaired.' Mina continued. 'Not far from here.'

'Weren't you a weather forecaster?' Eren didn't want to be any ruder than he'd been but, woops, it was out there before he knew. Why did a weather person know so much about boats? Shit made no sense.

'Eren.' It was Armin that pointed him on his rude choice of words.

'What is wrong with you?' Mina asked aghast, eyes wide but stern.

'Oh, yeah.' Eren laughed at that question. 'I'm just rude. I guess, and I don't really care.'

'It's amazing you aren't dead yet.' Armin joked.

'Now that was rude.' Was his comeback at Armin.

'Hey, what can I say. I learn from the best.'

'You bet your ass, you do.'

'Guys.' Mina came in between the two good friends. 'There are more pressing matters at hand.'

'True.' Armin was back into the game. 'We think…' he pointed at Mina and himself '… that the ship is removed because someone wanted a closer look.'

'Hm. Removed you say, as in a closer look in the museum and got caught, or paid someone to have it removed so he could have a better look at it?'

'The latter.' Mina nodded at him.

'Interesting.' Eren smiled. He loved it when things became a little sinister, it excited him, and he couldn't wait to depart already, but he knew he knew way too little, and knowing too little in this type of business would only get you into trouble.

'Very.' Armin agreed, sensing the spark of interest on his adventurous friend. 'But we have no idea who is after this: friend or foe. It could even be someone we know.'

'My husband works at the harbour where she is kept, that's how we knew she was being removed in the first place.' Mina informed.

Married, huh? Who'd wanna marry you? Good thing I didn't say that out loud. Thank god I ain't drunk. 'I want to take a peak at that replica. What about you guys?' a mischievous smirk spread across his lips and his eyes glinted with curiosity. He felt like a kid again, going on adventures, doing stupid stuff making people scold him. He loved making people hate him, a very bad trait in this business but he was so good at it. Fucked up talent number two.

'I knew you'd say that.' Armin said. 'But I am not going anywhere without a plan, you know that.' he grabbed his shoulder bag and ran through its contents, after a few seconds he pulled out a small package wrapped in cloth and handed it to Eren. 'Here, you'll need it.'

Eren removed the dirty fabric when he took the small gift. Wrapped inside he found a brown shoulder gun holster with a 45 Defender, his favourite gun. 'You know me too well.' He winked and tried the holster on. 'Say, Mina, what have you discovered about the storm the Flor de la Mar disappeared in?'

A smile crept on her facial features. 'It was no regular storm. More like a freak storm with no logical explanation. It was one that appeared out of nowhere, something like that is unheard of. I've made calculations of the density of the air back then, even made hundreds of digital scenarios of the collision of hot and cold air, winds, water streams, everything, but nothing made sense. In all of my research, it shows that there was no storm. Or if there was, nothing that, you know, makes a storm, was present, none of the critical factors were met. And I-'

'Shhh!' Eren interrupted her in the midst of her story. 'Someone's here. Hide.' He ordered both Armin and Mina.

Armin nodded as of immediate and did as he was told, Mina stood frozen in her spot, not knowing what to do in a situation like this. Damned doctors. 'Go!' Eren whispered harshly, if anything it only made her more scared. Armin appeared seconds later and took hold of her arm. 'Come on.' He encouraged her, and dragged her behind him. Tsk, I'd leave you behind. Shit Armin, you're too nice.

Eren carefully made towards the door, opening it slightly and peeked through the slim slit, into the room he'd entered before. Safe. He entered without a second thought, and proceeded through the darkness till he reached the next door, the one that lead to the hallway. He stopped in his tracks when he heard muffled footsteps. He narrowed his eyes and pressed his ear to the door. They're moving away. Good. But, just in case he pulled his gun, released the safety pin and slowly opened the door.

'Hey! Where are you guys going?' Called a loud voice from the other side of the door. Eren froze in mid-movement, his hand on the doorknob and the other held his Defender. He slowed his breathing and tried to relax his muscles, which were now so tensed they got sore. He slowly exhaled, releasing the knob, finger for finger. How did that bastard get there? How could he not have heard him? Had he been there all along? And if so, was he on guard? Shit.

Blood was pumping through his veins at incredible speed, his senses seemed sharper and he was addicted to this type of thrill just as much as he loathed it. His hands did not tremble as he wasn't afraid at all, he was just tense, but scared, never. He retreated a little, pressing himself to the wall right next to the door and squatted slightly.

'Have you guys checked in here yet?' he could hear the man knock on the door. They weren't really being stealth. They seemed to be the type of guys that screamed they were near you and would hunt you down, you know, those shitty guys you see in movies. They were far from pros, or they were just being overconfident. Either way, they were annoying and had to go one-way or another.

He withheld himself from placing his finger on the trigger; nothing good came of that if he was surprised. Eren'd only give him away, he might as well just walk out and shake their hands, insulting them and get shot afterward. All in all the result would be the same, his fate would be sealed in a way he didn't like, but a dead man couldn't argue.

He listened attentively when he heard a sudden move of the footsteps right after the door, he tensed a little when he heard the metal of the doorknob, and he mentally screamed when he heard the click of the door pin and creaking sound of the wood as the door was pushed open fast. Before Eren could register the man's appearance, not caring who he was, or what job he had, his fist travelled up at incredible speed, connecting hard with the man's nose. A sickening crack filled the room, undoubtedly pointing out Eren had broken it, but he showed no remorse, no regret and readied his second attack. He swiftly slammed his elbow onto the man's head when he bended forward, stumbling in pain and too shocked to realize what his mistake was. Eren caught the man halfway and put him down as softly as he could. His eyes were directed at the now open door. He dragged the man to the middle of the room, so he was out of the way, and returned to the doorway. He looked around the corner to see if anyone had heard. The hall was empty, but he could hear some men talking in the distance. They called a name, once twice. Eren discovered too late that it was the name of the man he'd knocked out and cursed heavily when he saw five men approaching. Had they followed him, or where they here at random? What were the odds? Eren couldn't tell until he saw the weapons on those guys. They were stacked with the finest weaponry he'd ever seen. They'd even make the military jealous. Each possessed an AK of the newest series, a small handgun, which looked an awful lot like a revolver, and a hunting knife strapped to they're hips. Fuck me. Eren's lips parted in desperation. This is not good. He glanced at the door in the back, wishing Armin could escape safely. Was there even a back door or anything? Eren hadn't checked and once again he cursed, this time inwardly.

He couldn't close the door anymore, they would notice. They would also notice their friend or colleague or whatever he was gone, and they would defiantly notice the open door and sneak a peak, and boo! There was Eren. This day couldn't get any worse. Or so he told himself.

'Victor?' one of the men called out again.

'You think he slacked off?' Another one added.

'I don't know, he's probably checking things out by himself.' Said yet another one.

'Maybe he went in there.' this voice sounded deeper than all the others and it send shivers over Eren's spine. He knew they were talking about his hideout. It wouldn't take too long before they'd find him. His mind was in overdrive; he had to do something now. What would they do if I fired some shots? Would they hide or would they charge? That was the big question.

Eren lifted his gun and directed it at the open door. Come on you bastards. He pulled the trigger and fired two shots at the doorway. The men on the other side, yelled out in shock and confusion. Then the deeper voice took command. 'Shut up ladies, and get your asses in there!' so he was their leader, noted.

All hell broke loose when they did what Eren least expected, all barged through the small door opening like possessed men and screamed as they ran towards Eren.

He raised his gun and took down two, hitting one between the eyes and the other just above his right chest. The other two still came at him at full speed and before he knew what hit him, his face met the stone cold floor. One of the huge guys had tackled him to the floor. Quickly Eren reached for the knife at the man's hip and dragged it along the man's side. The man screamed in terror as his hands released his gun and clammed protectively over his burning side. Eren jammed the knife in the bleeding man's neck to end his torment, but lost hold of it when the man fell to the ground with a loud thud.

'Fuck.' He cursed. He regained composure when he realized he still held his gun. He had been so surprised he'd completely forgot about the damned thing to such an extent he hadn't even dropped it. He put a bullet in the remaining one and searched for their leader. Of course the guy hadn't bothered entering the room himself. Coward.

'The bastard's in here!' he heard him call. 'Sent reinforcements, now! 3rd floo-' He didn't allow the man to say another word; he barged through the door, jumped him, and worked his face like a boxing ball, gun still in hand. He only noticed that because his hand hurt like hell, and that wasn't just because he punched a bony cheek, but also because his fingers were squashed between those bones and the hold of his 45 Defender.

He spotted a Walky in the man's hand and grabbed it. 'Stazz come in.' it sounded. 'We're on our way.'

'God, Fuck, Shit!' was the best Eren could bring out. 'Fuck!' he had to keep himself from hurling the damned machine across the hall, instead he searched himself for a pair of earplugs, plugged those into the Walky and attached the device to his jeans. This way he could listen to their conversations without giving his location away.

He backtracked to the room he'd left Armin and Mina. 'Guys?' He whispered. No response. 'Shit.' He scanned the room as best as he could and found an open door next to some empty bookcases. 'Give me a fucking break.' They had left the room, going god knows where, hiding somewhere in this large building with people out there searching for them. Armin almost never had a gun on him, and he doubted Mina could do… well anything but scream and give Armin away. He had to get to them fast.

A cracked voice sounded through the Walky; "Sanchez for Stazz. Stazz come in, what is your current location? Over."

On the ground, KO. Eren thought to himself proudly, but listen attentively to the small portable radio.

"Yuri for Sanchez." Another voice cracked through the device, this one had a heavy Russian accent.

"Yeah?" came the reply of this Sanchez guy.

"Go check upstairs. Report back to me later."

"Copy that, sir."

It went silent after that. Okay, so this new guy was coming up, god knows who he took with him, or how many, but hey, at least Eren knew there were about three of these groups, of which one was already taken out. He estimated about 12 more, all armed like the previous group. 'Oh, why does this always happen to me?' he mumbled as he passed through the door Armin had used to escape. It led to another dark room. He wanted to call out but quickly dropped that idea; it was simply too dangerous. He had no idea how close this Sanchez guy and his gang was. As far as he was concerned he was already close enough to hear Eren move around. He moved around a little, searching the room and the few that came after, till he ended up on the hallway yet again. He was near a staircase and shook his head. 'No, please. Don't tell me you went down that Armin. Shit.' He groaned and ran his hand through his mob of hair.

He stored his gun in his holster; it seemed better to have a stealthy take on the situation. He was clearly outnumbered in every single way. Rash actions could lead to dire situations; he didn't really like those type of situations, not really.

He breathed in deep, debating if he should go downstairs or continue down the hall. Yes, people were coming up so going down could mean he avoided them, but all the same he could walk into them in that small and dark space. Same counted for remaining on the same floor, it would only be a matter of time before they caught him.

He heard commotion down the staircase, several men running up the stairs. Eren quickly returned to the last room he exited and hid behind the low walls, the top was made of glass, causing him to crouch down to remain out of sight. He heard the door open fast followed by a loud bang against the wall of being pushed open too hard. He peaked through the window just above his head and his eyes grew wide with recognition when he saw Armin, looking sweaty and scared.

'Hey.' Eren loudly whispered. 'Over here.' He knocked on the glass.

He saw Armin looking around frantically. Poor kid. Finally he caught sight of Eren and hurried into hiding beside his childhood friend.

'Had a though day?' Eren breathed, poking Armin in the side.

'Shit, Eren. They're everywhere. They saw me. They saw. Mina. Oh, shit, I lost sight of her.' it came out fast but Eren was able to understand every single word spoken.

'Shhh, it's okay. She's alright. She's probably hiding. Don't worry too much. We're gonna get out of this.' He tried to comfort Armin, but the look on the boy's face didn't change. Great he doesn't believe me. Maybe he's too smart for his own good. He may be right. This doesn't look too good.

'He came through here!' a voice called from the stairs. Not good. Eren's lips formed a thin line when he took a quick look. 'Check the area! Search every fucking room till you found him!' about seven guys ran into the hall. Eren retreated behind the wall. Not good at all. Eren focused his attention at Armin, signing him the boy should only look at him. "Don't. Look. Over. The. Wall. Okay?" He signed with his hands. Armin managed to do just that and signed back; "I'm Fine." Are you sure, you don't look like it.

Things took a turn for the worse when suddenly they heard a woman scream, out of sheer habit Armin jumped up at the sudden sound. Eren cursed silently, which turned into an entire string of foul words when he heard some shout; "Over there!" they'd been spotted. Perfect.

'Armin, run!' Eren yelled and pushed the boy into movement. They dashed through the gloom spaces and heard gunfire erupt behind them. One thing was certain, if they got caught they wouldn't be held prisoner. These guys where here out for blood.

Bullets pushed through the old walls like they were made of cardboard, tearing through old stacks of paper and furniture. Pieces of wood and paper darted around the room, making it hard to see where they were running. Eren nearly walked into a wall if it weren't for Armin's warning.

'Armin watch out!' this time it was his time to warn his friend, in front of him a giant man had appeared ready to gun them down. Eren grabbed a desk lamp from a bureau he passed by as he ran and hurled it at the figure in front of him. Armin ducked just in time and yelped when the lamp passed over his head. It hit the man quite hard, making him stumble backward a little.

'Stay!' Eren ordered Armin when he raced past him. He fished a chair from near him and kept on advancing without ever slowing down. He raised it like a baseball bat and smashed it again the man before he could regain his composure. The chair exploded into a mess of splinters and screws taking the man down. 'Come on!' Eren shouted after the man was out.

They continued they're race through a labyrinth of rooms, halls and staircases. Finally making it to the ground floor. Luckily they had only run into someone once and Eren had taken him out with some sort of old school desktop computer, not wanting to waste a bullet on him. Eren was starting to get worried about Mina's safety. Sure, he didn't like her but that doesn't mean she deserved a shitty fate. He bit his lip. A habit he had when he was stressed.

'Armin.' Eren said when they slowed to a walk. 'Here take this.' He handed the Walky over to him.

'Thanks.'

'Get out of here and search through the channels on this thing, try to get a hold of the channel of the airport security.'

'But… I-I'm not gonna leave you here.' Armin sounded hurt. He never liked to be left out in situations like this, but he knew it was for the better. He knew Eren cared too much for his safety and would do a lot better knowing he was safe.

'Armin. Please, you have to do this. You know better than anyone we can't save Mina without extra help. It's clear that these guys don't belong here, it's not like they're undercover or anything. They are proud of who they work for, it must be some sick ass warlord or whatever: someone with too much money. We need help.' Eren's tan skin was plastered with sweat. 'I'll meet up with you at the, what do they have everywhere. I dunno, Mac Donald's?' He nodded. 'Okay?'

'Okay.' Armin decided after some silence. 'Just… be careful alright?'

'Ha, when am I not?'

'I mean it.' Armin warned.

'Sure. Whatever you say.'

Eren wadded back into danger when he'd said his goodbyes with Armin. He needed to find Mina soon. He'd no idea what these men would do to her. He decided to count his bullets; Armin hadn't given him extra ammunition. He checked the magazine of his Defender, it was loaded with only two more rounds. That'll have to do. Hadn't really thought that one through. Stupid.

He reached for his backpack out of instinct and found it missing. He mentally slapped himself. 'Of course.' He moaned in frustration 'Why not?' the damned thing was still upstairs in the room where he'd left it, if, of course, it was still there.

Eren carefully traced back the way he'd escaped with Armin. Upstairs, on the second floor he heard some movement in the distance, but choose to ignore it for now.

Finding his bag was an easy job and so was finding Mina. He'd strapped his bag tight on his back, so it wouldn't sway too much. It would be quite annoying to say the least if he bumped into something. With gun in hand he waited around the far corner of the hallway, at the opposite end there was an open door that led into a room where Mina was held captive. It seemed almost every one had gathered there. Inside Eren counted up to seven men, though he was sure about the same number was out there still searching for him and Armin.

I need to distract them, get them to leave that shitty room. I can't do squad when they're all in there. He backtracked to one of the rooms behind him, searched for something small he could throw and went back the way he came. His keen eyes spotted a perfect place to target and he calculated his throw. 'Well, here goes.'

He threw a small wooden statue against the door at the end of the hall, to attract their attention first. When some of them came out when orders were barked, they moved down the hall, a total of five men, guns raised and all quite on edge.

Great, now what? Eren beamed into a corridor not far from him, he hid behind some half broken book cabinet and got ready to throw yet another wooden object, this time it was a desk name plate. This time Eren threw it at his previous hiding spot and pushed himself flat against the wall like a Gecko.

A ruckus of footsteps and voices passed him, it looked somewhat like a small army marching by. When they were past him Eren released a shaky breath, easing him up a bit. He dared to move when he couldn't hear the group anymore and peeled himself from the wall. He tiptoed towards the end of the hall and took a halt near his destination.

Eren could hear the young doctor plead for freedom. Okay, there are still two inside and I've got two more rounds. Shit, if I fire them, they'll hear and come back. Why, why don't you ever think thinks through! Till the end!

'What do you know about the storm?' One of the men asked, and that question turned young Jeager's heart to stone. 'The storm dr. Carolina, tell us, we know you've discovered something.'

They know about the storm? Don't! If you tell them they'll kill you. Eren thought. He could only hear her stammer nonsense. She was too afraid. She wasn't capable of thinking straight anymore. He couldn't blame her.

I have to act before she starts talking. He knew it sounded cruel, but it was the truth, her talking would get those men the information they wanted, and it would also mean they would rid of her. Don't worry Mina, I'll get you out of there, I've got a plan!

The treasure hunter squatted low, threw open the door and rolled into the doorway. Eren aimed at the two standing on guard, who were staring at him with bewildered eyes. They're guns were aimed to high, clearly not expecting someone to basically roll into their lair. Eren made quick work of it, gunning both down fast, taking advantage of his surprise attack.

First he stored his weapon, not needing it anymore since he was out of bullets. He dashed over to one of the dead man and took his old revolver, opened the mag, counted 4 rounds and then turned his attention to Mina. He freed her slim wrists of thick rope and tossed it behind him.

'Come on we have to go.' He said shaking her by her shoulders.

She stared blankly ahead. Shit, we don't have time for this. He snapped his fingers in front of her, trying to catch her attention. 'Hey, hello! Mina!'

'W-what… happened? Why are… t-they dead? Oh, my god are they?' she stammered, her hands were shaking. It was clear to him that she'd never experienced something like this, where sadly he'd experienced too many. He'd long gone stopped caring about shooting people. He understood that it was either he or they; there was no time for regret.

'Come on, let's go!' he hoisted Mina to her feet, letting her lean on him heavily so he could drag her along like a puppet.

'Did you…? You killed them?' she said in disbelieve. Eren chose not to answer her. It wasn't important for her to know at the time being, they just needed to get out of here; alive was preferred. Yeah, that would be perfect.

They slandered through dark halls, dusty rooms, and a loudly creaking staircase. Eren heard they were being chased and quickly dragged Mina out of the staircase when he heard them run down the metal stairs too. He closed the door behind them and barricaded it with anything he could get his hands on. He was only at the second item when he heard a loud crash against the door.

'Shit.' He pushed all his weight against it to prevent it from opening, but the table he'd set before it made it nearly impossible to put in all his strength. He lost his footing and he quickly stepped back letting one of their assaulters stumble out on the hall. Eren kicked the side of the man's head, spun around and barked at Mina to run, as of immediate if she'd love her life.

The sound of a gunshot tore through Eren's ears. His eyes darted towards the doorway and found yet another man standing there aiming his gun straight at them.

He grabbed the door and slammed it shut and fired two shots. He took Mina's hand after he heard a body slump against the door and started to run, until he felt a pull at his arm. 'Mina, we don't have time fo-…' his voice died off when he looked at her.

She'd clenched her free hand around her throat; blood stained her hand and fingers. It took a good two seconds for Eren to realize she'd been hit. She desperately tried to stop the blood from gushing out, pressing her hand on the wound as best as she could with a trembling hand. When she tried to speak no words came out, only a cough and Eren's eyes widened with horror as he saw blood bubble on her lips.

Shit, this is bad. 'Mina, can you hear me?' he said with a trembling voice, obviously fearing the loss of her life. When she slumped against him he feared for the worse, her hand fell from her throat as she took sharp short ragged breaths. 'No, no, no, shit. Come on, don't do this to me. You're gonna be okay.' And when the life left her eyes he felt defeat wash over him. Eren laid her down carefully, cursing the fact that he couldn't take her with him. He did the next thing he hated doing to her; he searched her pockets. He took her cell phone, some cash, and her notebook. He also found a hotel key card. It read; Hotel Perdana Kota Bharu. She didn't have other things on her, which he could use.

He ran his fingers over her face, closing her eyes and placed a coin on each of her eyelids, as a token she could pass through to the afterlife. 'For the ferryman.' He bit his lip, guilt eating a way into his heart. He'd been mean to her and now look what had happened. He couldn't help things worked out the way it had, but it didn't make him feel better about himself.

He had to leave her when he heard commotion coming down the staircase and he darted through the hall. He knew they would chase him wherever he went. Concluding that he had to take them out he ran towards a small kitchen, he figured it was the old cafeteria of past employees, searched for a gas tank underneath on of the cooking pits and gave it a few suggestive pulls. He thanked who ever was up there it was old and rusty, he yanked the tank out, nearly fell sideways when he had misjudged the weight and made his way towards a refrigerator. Eren opened the white fridge and threw out some empty plastic cabinets and the sort, and placed the tank inside. He shoved the heavy machine, with its door still open, in front of the only door available in the room, which he slammed shut, barricading the entrance. He made sure he was loud enough they heard him and soon found he was right when he heard them scream; 'He's in here!'

'Don't let him get away.' Another one barked. Hm, these men weren't really nice, but then again, Eren had never really liked when there were a bunch of very angry men chasing you while shooting at you, with the clear intention of killing you. As you might have guessed, Eren liked to live, and planned to do so quite a few years longer, maybe 90, okay, that was kind of impossible, but 80? Yeah, that sounded nice.

'Assholes.' He muttered under his breath. After this, he was sure he needed a vacation, one which, did not, I repeat, did not include him being hunted down like some rare panda. He moved away from the refrigerator as far as he could, in fact he didn't worry about the door one bit, instead he opened a window and grinned when he found himself on the first floor. This might work.

He sat in the windowpane and shifted awkwardly, trying to find the best angle to jump down at. I know it's just one freaking floor! But I don't want to break shit. He remembered once Armin had jumped down a rock of what, 50 cm high and somehow landed weird, resulting in one broken ankle. Yeah, he couldn't use that right now.

Just when he'd found the perfect angle, gunfire erupted behind him. Seemingly the men didn't trust the door and just fired at will, but what they didn't know was that the gas filled fridge was like a stealth bomb, waiting for some action, and action is what it got, lots of it. When bullets pierced through the machine a spark of fire set the whole thing aflame, and boom, the men were no more, same counted for part of the walls, etc. and of course Eren, who practically flew out of the window screaming at the top of his lungs. And of course he forgot to land perfectly or anything near perfect, and landed hard on his ass. He bit down a scream and tears sprung in his eyes. He sat still for a few seconds, not moving, and just breathed in and out trying to fight the pain in his lower body. 'Fuck, I think I broke my ass…' he tried to get up when pain shot through his lower back. 'Ah, fuck…' he stumbled a few steps unable to walk properly because of the pain. After a while the pain lessened and he could walk normally again.

He pulled out his Iphone from his bag pack and called Armin, who picked up almost instantly.

'Eren? Where are you?'

'On my way as we speak.' He groaned when he misplaced his foot and his body didn't agree with it.

'Are you alright?' Armin sounded worried.

'Something like that, yeah.'

'And Mina? Is she alright?'

It remained silent for a while. Eren didn't really know how to say it. 'She… she didn't make it.'

'…' Now it was Armin's turn to remain silent.

'Listen.' Eren started. 'I need you to do me a favour.'

'…Ah… yes. What is it? But wait… tell me, what happened.'

'Later, I promise.' He assured him earning a sigh from the other as response. 'I am in great need…' he pulled at his dirty long sleeve, showing bloodstains, Mina's blood '… of a new shirt. Could you please do that for me?'

'All right, although I don't have much money.'

'Dude, as long it ain't pink, I don't care. Meet me at the front, I can't walk front, I'm not gonna walk through an airport like this.' And with that he hung up. The new terminal got closer and closer. He stripped himself of his gun holster, gun, and shirt. He wrapped his shirt around the other two and stuffed it in his bag and went on his way. Luckily it was very warm out, so walking around shirtless wasn't absolute hell, though he didn't like the fact he had scares all over his body from past adventures, but he'll just have to suck that up for now.

He spotted Armin waving with a white shirt above his head. Nice. He grinned and ran over.

'Thanks.' He grabbed the shirt and pulled it over his head. He studied it a bit and cocked his brow. 'I love Malaysia.' He said dryly, more in a reading voice than a judging one. The 'love' was in form of a red heart, the letters were black.

'It's the only one I could afford.' Armin looked like a wreck.

'Are you okay?'

'Are you?'

'I don't know.' Eren was being honest, his feelings were all over the place, he was angry, tired, hungry, dreaded, and sad and he tormented by guilt. 'I'm sorry.' He finally said.

'You went back for her. That's more than a whole lot would have done.' Armin tried to comfort him with a broken voice. He wasn't mad at Eren, he just felt horrible about everything else. 'What about those guys?' his blue eyes stern, he needed to know where they were at.

'I think I…' Eren looked around a bit before he was sure nobody was near enough to hear them '…killed more then half of them. But I'm not sure, that place was like a fucking labyrinth, the only thing it missed was a Minotaur.'

That last part got Armin to chuckle. 'Ah, you're fine.' He knew as long as Eren could fool around, he was just fine. 'How many?' he added.

'Uh, I wasn't really counting on the go, but uh,… ten at the least. I think? No, wait. What? No. Ten. I dunno man.' Armin shook his head at that lousy answer.

'Alright. I'll go get us a cab and you… just wait here.'

'… And be pretty?'

'I don't care what you do.'

'That's mean.' Eren laughed. 'Do we have money for a cab?'

'No.' Armin said and eyed Eren.

'Okay. I get it, I'll knock him out.' He shrugged.

'I know.' Armin said as he turned on his heel.

Eren pulled out his cigarettes and lighter. It had been along time since he'd last smoked but he was convinced right now, it was the only thing that could calm him down at the moment. His hands trembled of the left over adrenaline; he always had this when he'd been through some hard times. Even so he lit his cig without a problem and took a long, deep drag, filling his lungs to the brim.

'Fucking hate flying.' A grumpy raven-haired man groaned angrily. He was sick of being airborne and was quite content his feet were finally touching solid ground. He passed through security without any hiccups, he had not checked-in any luggage so he could basically walk straight out of the airport. All he had brought was in his black leather weekend bag that slung over his shoulder casually. He was neatly dressed in a white blouse, dark blue pants, and a pair of dark brown suede shoes.

When he stepped outside warmth washed over him. He closed his eyes enjoying the warmth of the sun. He needed his holiday more than he needed anything, at least that was until he smelled smoke. He looked to his right and found a boy wearing an "I love Malaysia" shirt smoking. That seemed like a very good idea, not the shirt, that was hideous, but a cigarette, he couldn't say no to that.

He pulled his package of Lucky Strike from his bag and searched for a lighter, only to find none. He cursed inwardly. Just when he was about to ask the boy for fire his phone rang. Great timing.

'573 verify.' A bored female voice sounded on the other side of the line.

'104 verified.' He was all he responded.

'Special agent Levi, this is Hanji speaking.' An all too familiar voice boomed through his phone. He knew it was her all along, even when she tried to sound professional.

'There have been signs of a bombing at your current location. The local airport security was reporting in about half an hour ago. Investigate the premises and report back to us within 120 minutes from now. Location: old terminal, as I said nearby. Do you accept this mission?' the cheery voice sounded.

'Are you serious?' he asked her in disbelieve. 'You do realize I'm on vacation.'

'Yeah, hence the question, not an order. Slacking off already?' she laughed.

'Why? Is local security not enough.'

'It was a makeshift bomb.'

'Terrorists?' she whispered.

'Could be. Do you accept this mission?'

'Fine, I'll see what I can do. But forget the 120 minutes, I'm smoking a cigarette first.'

'No can do, sir. Happy hunting.' She hung up.

Levi sighed deeply. Well, so long vacation. He peaked over at the boy once more and saw the kid light up another one. Addicted much? Well, I'm one to talk.

'Hey kid.' He said while walking over and held his cigarette up suggestively. When the brunette turned towards him he saw the most gorgeous emerald eyes he'd ever gree- I mean seen.

'Fire? Ah, sure.' His voice wasn't too bad either. The kid fished his lighter out of his jeans pocket and handed him the metal object.

'So I take it you like Malaysia.' Levi couldn't help but ask. He received a vague stare, which was quickly replaced by a dashing smile.

'Ah, yeah. This.' The boy pointed at his T-shirt while he laughed. 'It's not really like I had a choice. They lost my luggage and I spilled tomato juice over my shirt. Some fat bastard sat down in his chair, … before me.' He gestured with his hands. 'It wasn't pretty.'

'Sucks.' Levi chuckled.

'Hey, now I got this awesome shirt.' He winked; his eyes flashed a brilliant green. Shit, this kid is cute.

'Really, here I thought; poor kid with a shitty shirt.'

'That's… cruel.' The brunette grinned. 'Well the story gets even sadder. When I spilled it, I had to sit in the aircon wrapped in a blanket against the cold -I looked like a caterpillar, truly, no lies- and asked for a new drink. The lady went all the way back and got me my juice, I took one sip, bleg… turns out; I don't even like the fucking drink. How stupid is that?'

'Very.' Levi chuckled. 'And hopeless.'

'Eren!' A blond boy stood in the distance waving his hands above his head. 'Cab!' and motioned the brunette to hurry and move over to him.

'Ah, my ride.' The boy called Eren said. 'Was nice meeting you…' he narrowed his eyes, waiting for Levi to respond.

'Levi.' He finally said. 'It's nice to meet you too, Eren.' He handed the boy back his lighter and was surprised when Eren shook his head.

'Nah, you keep it. I don't really smoke anyway.'

Levi cocked his brow at that. 'You just smoked two cigarettes.' He deadpanned.

'Wow, you're such a stalker. Look, you got my stuff already.' Eren joked.

'I offered it back.'

'Such a gentleman.' Eren grabbed his bag and saluted him, he walked past him towards his friend yelling; 'Yeah, hold your horses!' turned back to him after a few steps and said loudly; 'Hey, there's a surprise for you on that thing. Take care, Levi! And I'm sure I'll see you again!' he waved at him.

'What makes you so sure?' Levi called back; he felt a smile tug at his lips. It had been a long time since any person made him this relaxed, this… happy?

'Goodbye!' The boy chose not to answer him and walked off, looking back once more and joined his blond friend, whose eyes darted from him to Eren, and said something, probably about their conversation. He watched the boy get into the cab and drove off.

'Wierdo.' He smiled. He turned back towards the airport and sighed. 'Well then, let's get to work.' And with that he walked back into that damned airport, postponing his vacation. He fiddled with the lighter and remembered Eren's words. 'A surprise?' he watched the metal thing, no wait, underneath there were 3 numbers 925, the number of pure silver. Neat. And when he glanced at the other side he saw some more numbers. He smiled. Damned brat. Etched on the side was the boy's phone number.

'Surprise indeed.'

Please Review, so I know if I should continue =)

I know I suck at writing fighting stuff, but I'll get better at it ONE DAY!